Toxic (Denazen #2)(43)

The plan was for us to land on the small patio, then climb to the ground below, but I’d underestimated the balcony’s size. It was much smaller than it looked from inside.

And way less stable.

We crashed into the handrail—then through it. Jade yelped as we tumbled over the edge and plummeted to the ground. It wasn’t a long fall—ten feet, maybe—but it still could have ended badly for me if Jade hadn’t been kind enough to cushion most of the impact with her body.

“You bitch,” she seethed and shoved me off.

I rolled away, gasping for air. The fall had knocked the wind from my lungs and jarred my good shoulder. For a moment, I was sure it was broken. Unresponsive fingers and sharp pain from neck to elbow made me panic. Broken bones would be more than a simple inconvenience at the moment. But when the pain started to ebb and my fingers began to wiggle, I knew I was in the clear.

I glanced to the window in time to catch a blur of black. The twins. They’d be down the stairs and around the house in no time. Up. I needed to get up and away. I stumbled upright and wobbled as a wave of vertigo hit.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jade squealed. She was on her feet and obviously in better shape than I was.

What the hell was her problem? It wasn’t like she’d gotten hurt.

Unfortunately.

From the right corner of the house, the twins stepped into the moonlight, and our eyes met. Aubrey flashed a wicked grin as they started forward.

“Shit,” I cursed, whirling in the other direction.

“Don’t move!” someone yelled.

To our left, two police officers were rounding the other side of the house. When I glanced over my shoulders, the twins were backing into the shelter of the tree line. Within seconds, they’d blended into the darkness—but I knew they were still there. Watching and waiting for their chance.

The toxic twins or a nice, bumpy ride in the back of a squad car. It was no contest.

“Over here!” I called, arms flailing. Nodding to Jade, I called, “She’s underage—and drunk!”

As they hauled us to the squad cars, Able stepped out from the darkness. His head was bleeding where the chair had hit him, and his expression was full of fury. His lips were moving, and even though it was dark, there was enough moonlight for me to get a pretty good idea what he’d said.

“This isn’t over.”





15


“I cannot frigging believe you. You throw me out a window and get me arrested? Taking this jealousy thing a little too far, don’t you think?”

I tucked my feet up, cringing, and rested my head against the wall. The throbbing in my left shoulder had doubled since our impromptu swan dive from the window, and the itching was driving me insane. I had to sit on my hands to keep from scratching at it. Then there was Jade’s voice. Each word was like a knife slicing my head in two. I tried to ignore her, but she wasn’t deterred.

“That was totally selfish.”

The police were gallant enough to escort us from the party in the back of their squad car. To take their hospitality one step further, they even provided us with our own special waiting area as they called Mom and Ginger. It stank like week-old puke, was decorated with pretty metal bars, and had several gruesome-looking stains on the floor.

I closed my eyes and gnashed my teeth into my tongue. “What the hell are you whining about?”

“Instead of going to make sure Kale was okay, you try to kill me. When that fails, you get me arrested as payback for showing up at the party.”

“You’re invincible, remember? I can’t kill you—no matter how much I’d like to.” I opened my eyes and snorted. “And ego much? That had nothing to do with petty crap and revenge. In fact, I did you a damned favor.”

She balked. “A favor? You’re a lunatic. What person in their right mind throws someone through a window? Or tries to get arrested, for that matter? You’re a seriously damaged individual! I don’t know what he sees in you.”

Standing, I took a deep breath. We were in a cell. Alone. There was no one to stop me from kicking the crap out of the little twit. I couldn’t actually hurt her, but there could still be some serious enjoyment in trying.

“One with good survival instinct. We were about to get raided.”

“Um, duh? The cops were already there.”

“The cops? No. I mean by Denazen. While you were busy trying to throw Kale in my face, a group of Denazen flunkies was coming toward us. Or maybe you already knew that.”

She scowled and turned away.

I took a step forward. “And how is it they found their way there? Any ideas?”

Shoulders stiff and cheeks flushed, she turned to glare at me. For a minute I thought she might actually take a swing. Or try to. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means, you pop up at a party, and then Denazen shows right on your heels? You don’t think that’s odd? Especially after that post office stunt?”

Her eyes were wide, and she flashed me a look of mock surprise. “Post office stunt? You are truly certifiable, you know that?”

“Don’t play that innocent crap with me. I know what you’re all about. And come on! You drag Kale out of the hotel to a party that Denazen crashes? How’s that supposed to look?”

“Like I wanted to hang out with the guy I like?”